Sisyphean Bills

I misunderstood Ham and revised accordingly. So many posters have said that "the team has more talent". Talent is not something that comes and goes, in my opinion. I don't think Wood is more talented now than he was as a rookie. He has more experience now. He's had more injuries. He's playing at a different position. But, he's not "more talented" than himself. It is by this then that I meant comparing different seasons is perfectly acceptable. If one judged Brett Favre's talent based on his stint with his first NFL team, one would have to say he sucked. It wasn't until he was coached up and put in a system that he could thrive in that he became a Hall-of-Fame player. Similarly for Steve Young. So, having watched Marshawn play this season, I can say the guy is a stud and a very talented football player. He's been pulling the load for his team. If I ignore that data, then I don't really have a very good picture of his innate talent. Hope this explains what I meant more clearly. Sorry to Ham for the misunderstanding. As far as if the team is strictly better, we'll know in 3 weeks; but, so far their record says, "meh".

Disagree, on the grounds we are talking about talent. Lynch has the same talent as he has ever had.

The ironic part of that is that Spiller's OC is the guy putting him in the positions to do what he's done.

Let's consider this. If you are a new regime coming in, chances are that the previous regime blew it and the team is bad and finished with a lousy record. Unless they traded away their picks, you'll be drafting at the top of the draft. As you pointed out, the best place to get a QB with a high ceiling is early in the draft. Consider also that you should know the NFL has a very short shelf life. You need to get things turned around quickly or you run a big risk of becoming the previous regime yourself. Once you turn yourself into an 8-8 level team, you'll be fighting an uphill battle against much longer odds. Of course, you could always announce your intentions going into season 4 that "now's the time."

Lynch has been a beast this year & is 2nd in the NFL in rushing. It's quite debatable that Spiller is a huge upgrade. Jackson is still Jackson, but with more mileage on the tires and starting to show it.

Might not be Chan Nix at all. It could be Detroit calling.

Didn't forget; it's been mentioned a few times already. I thought it might be instructive to use actual names.

Levy/Jauron 2008, 3rd year: Offense: Edwards, Lynch, Jackson, Evans, Reed, Royal, Schouman, Peters, Dockery, Preston, Butler, Walker Defense: Kelsay, Stroud, Williams, Schobel, Denney, Ellison, Poz, Mitchell, McGee, Greer, Whitner, Simpson Smithers/Jauron 2009: Offense: Edwards, Jackson, Evans, Owens, Nelson, Bell, Levitre, Hangartner, Wood, Chambers Defense: Kelsay, Stroud, Williams, Schobel, Ellison, Poz, Mitchell, McGee, Florence, Wilson, Byrd Nix/Gailey 2012, 3rd year: Offense: Fitz, Jackson, Spiller, Johnson, Graham, Jones, Chandler, Glenn, Levitre, Wood, Urbik, Pears Defense: Williams, Dareus, Williams, Bradham, Shepherd, Barnett, Williams, Gilmore, Wilson, Byrd

BTW, that's a line I've heard Nix and Gailey use. "He's done it before, so..."

Does anybody think Trent was better than Fitz? Fitz never beat him out for the job and Trent has a better winning percentage, even though Trent was just jogging out of bounds to make his tee time. Not to mention Trent is faster than a quick draw shooter.

It could always be worse. http://www.washingto...jhXTI_blog.html PS: Check the Marty reference. It could be better, too.

http://espn.go.com/b...-deep-for-bills http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Captain%20Checkdown

On the other hand, it's an entertainment business. Doing things that attract fans and get them to spend their money is exactly what it is all about.

Did you catch the interview where he talked about his new golf clubs? He seemed plenty pumped about it.

I was thinking about giving the ball to CJ on every offensive snap and started wondering what NFL defense wouldn't adjust to shut that "game plan" down ... which led me to thinking about Dave Wannstedt. Thanks, fellas!

Right. Spiller takes himself out for a play and says he's ready to go back in. But, Fred stays on the field for the rest of that series and the next series as well and does not tap out. So apparently, Chan isn't managing it to the point that CJ and Fred are running on and off the field play to play. Certainly, Chan is the HC and he could command players to play and no one would think it very strange, would they? Still, if CJ isn't winded, why does he take himself out in the first place? PS: I totally agree that CJ needs to be on the field more. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

But that isn't an answer to the question I asked. I'll ask it again: Why is CJ taking himself out of games? There is no question that he does it; he said himself that he does it. [Edit: If he's truly not winded, what does that imply?] Furthermore, even though he does it, that doesn't absolve Gailey's role in this tango. Why doesn't Gailey just tell his star to get the hell back on the field?

The simple answer: When you win a lot of games, you play in more games that actually count.

For the opposite view: http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/view-from-new-orleans-on-tagliabues-saints-bounty-ruling/

But the puzzle of it is that CJ said that he took himself out of the game after the screen pass. So if he wasn't fatigued and as you say everyone knows it, why did he remove himself from the game? Furthermore, it's clear from the comments that Fred was NOT so obliging and did NOT remove himself from the game after CJ took himself out. Chan actually said, "he gets winded and he comes out." Which doesn't necessarily mean that Chan thought he was winded or out of shape. Indeed, in the context of CJ's comment mentioned above, it seems clear Chan is just saying CJ took himself out of the game. The question is: Why?

Well, if there is a communication problem, and I have never said it was anything more than speculation on a message board, hopefully they get it straightened out. I don't think there is anything wrong with a coach that wants his star player to refuse to leave the field.

Not to mention that Chan actually said, "he gets winded and he comes out." This was in fact true and confirmed by none other than CJ himself. He took himself out of the game after the screen pass. No one really needs to set aside context and parsing to criticize Gailey.

So, you're saying that he's done it before?

Not a good way to motivate a guy to run through a brick wall for you...